Of all the places I would have thought to visit in 2011, Israel wasn't on the radar. A business trip to visit a customers head offices changed that. I got to visit Jerusalem, fly El Al and loose my luggage on the way France.
My trip started just like every other one, sitting at PTI looking at the ground crew prepare the plane for it's next flight.
A connecting flight from Newark and then I wake up in Tel Aviv in Ben Gurion Airport. One of the most modern I have seen other than Copenhagen.
Hope you like walking....you will do plenty of it at this airport.
First visible signs down the walkway that I wasn't in the USA anymore was the Israeli Flags and Hebrew.
The Hotel Crowne Plaza City Center was one of the only hotels that wasn't booked. I will use a word to describe it that I never use in day to day speech. <Swanky>
Swanky Continued
Swanky Continued
Swanky Continued
Swanky Continued
Swanky Continued
Swanky Continued
and a not so Swanky view of the city
and again....enough of the use of Swanky
Halways were decorated with art that looked like it came from US Nuclear tests out in the Desert's of the SW
Due to my lack of Hebrew, I had to hope this was Coffee...
A few people who travelled with me said reading Jerusalem gave them Goosebumps
Old Trappist Monastery....I can no longer hear that word and think anything other than Beer and Belgium.....sorry silent Monks.
A tank Museum showing off the Israeli Tanks throughout their history and all the Tanks of people who fought against them. One of the best comments of the trip was around this time...."What happened to all the other peoples from the Bible that fought against the Israelites? It's not like you hear about the Summerians and Philistines anymore." I had to agree.
A 400-500 year old in on the way to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv
One of the funniest guides to Israel. Oded was his name and if you ever head to Israel, I highly recommend and have his contact info.
Two symbols of the Jewish faith right outside of the Government building.
A loving parents vigil to their son's return. They have lived outside of the capital building for 5 years pleading for more to be done to return their son from Hamas. More info on him here....Gilad Shalit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit
More Banners for Gilad.
The soon to be renovated Waldorf Astoria
and it's neighboring building with King David Hotel in the background.
First view I had of Jerusalem, the old city
and what old city is complete without the new city shopping center....this part of the city used to be divided before the 6 day war. Hard to imagine now when walking down the street.
Tower of David near the old city walls.
Entrance of the old city, Jaffa Gate pointing towards Tel Aviv. It was named Jaffa instead of Tel Aviv because Tel Aviv did not exist when it was built.
Street Scene in the old city.
The city has more of these type side streets than can be counted. Really takes you back 1000's of years.
Old meets new, cars and a city of thousands of years in age.
Markets are everywhere....the vendors are very pushy and my theory is the fact that they are selling all the same type of things. If someone actually sold something other than spices, religious artifacts or cd's/dvd's the customers would hunt them out instead.
These walkway stones are not meant for the modern shoe, I almost slipped a few dozen times.
This used to be the wall to the city of Jerusalem.....at 1000 BC
The sign....3000 year old wall....who builds walls like that now?
Map of the wall next to the sign.
Point of Intrest, The signs read Hebrew, Arabic and then English. When the English occupied Palestine before WWII signs were in English, Arabic and Hebrew.
More street views.
Old side street steps taking you down towards the Wailing Wall.
Dome of the Rock and the Israeli Flags.
An earlier post I had on facebook was similar to this photo. As a westerner, you never realize that some of the most holy sites for 3 religions can be squeezed into one photo.
View of the Western/Wailing Wall....it's all that's left. Notice men pray on the left and women on the right.
Dome of the Rock.
While in Rome....errr...Jerusalem.....wear a Kippah or Yarmulke and place a thought on paper into the wall.
Orthodox Jew in prayer
If you turn to the left from the wall above you walk into a covered area with artifacts and more things to see.
In the tunnel looking out towards the wall.
Some of the pieces in the tunnel.
The Wall drops some 8 stories or so...here is me standing on the glass looking down at an excavation.
There are ton's of people at the wall trying to make a buck off you. Or in this case an Israeli Shekel....they speak just about every language and I escaped by claiming my own language a cross of pig latin and spanish.
More tunnel walking.
Now for tour of the Arabic Market also the place where the tour guide pointed out as the last steps of Christ.
The place where Jesus stumbled while carrying the cross and placed his hand.
The door near the place where sweat was wiped from Jesus's brow.
The spot where his sweat was wiped.
View behind the spot of the
Crucifixion
Looks like a Ladder...it's much more. It's the immovable ladder.....the church is home to
Eastern Orthodoxy,
Oriental Orthodoxy and
Roman Catholicism. It is rumored that whoever moves the ladder is the leader of the Church. It's been there for 100 years and even has a railing to keep it from falling. Just like everything else in this city, everything is fought over when it comes to Religion.
Mural depicting the last moments of Jesus.
Me standing in front of the 13th Station of the Cross. aka Stone of Annointing....aka stone of Unction.
Area of the 12th Station of the Cross, The Rock of Calvary
Closer look at the Rock, the location of the Cross that Crucified Jesus and the Crack from the Earthquake that occured after he died that split it.
The Altar of the Crucifixion.
Roof above the Altar.
Entrance to the Altar.
The Altar itself.
After a long day of business and siteseeing in Israel a great meal with friends. And a few good pints to wash it down.
My reflections on the trip are the following. Even with the tension of the area, old and new somehow coexist and life goes on. I am probably one of the least religious people that I know but, it's still an amazing place for the history and emotion that people put into it. The only downside is that people probably never will get along here, it's been going on for thousands of years and that the old city is somehow not as amazing with people peddling chinese made religious trinkets.
I leave you with a walk down the market and hope you have enjoyed this short blog. More blogging to come from France very soon.
